library logo banner

Academic Integrity and AI: AI for Research

A guide about academic integrity and using artificial intelligence (AI) in assignments.

AI for Research

On this page find out about :

Unfortunately, popular free generative AI tools like ChatGPT, Copilot and Google Gemini are not always reliable search engines. They work by making predictions based on data they have been trained on, rather than retrieving live information.

Do not use them for finding information because you will have to fact check everything which is a lot of work. 

However, there are reliable AI tools that can help with certain types of research projects, including literature and systematic reviews.

Below is a summary of some AI Research tools for academic research purposes. You can find out more by watching the videos on the right-hand side of the page. 

Note 1: If you are using Microsoft Copilot to search for information, be sure to click on the citations so that you use information directly from the original source.

Note 2: Find more about AI literacy using Wintec's AI Literacy Toolbox

Note 3: Monash Health Library's recommended AI Tools provides a rating out of 10 for each AI and what each is best for. Background to this guide is in the article at Gorton (2025) Tech showdown - AI search tools special issue

Note 4: Remember that these AI tools do not replace systematic, structured searching in scholarly databases but assist in ensuring you have searched for your topic across additional scholarly sources.

AI Research Tools

ChatPDF
  • Can summarise PDF documents like online journal articles, business annual reports, research reports and manuals.
  • Can answer your questions about what is in the document
  • Free version lets you ask questions of 2 PDFS per day.
  • No sign in required

Consensus

  • Best for generating a summary from multiple articles 
  • Source of citations is Semantic Scholar
  • Gives the consensus of the scientific community about your topic
  • Lists the papers used to provide the consensus. Links to full text.
  • Sign in required

Dimensions AI
  • Contains over 100 million publications
  • Searches across a wide range of subject areas
  • The paid version links publications and citations with grants, patents, clinical trials, datasets, and policy papers
  • If no full text then copy and paste the article title into Library Search to find it in an Ara database.
  • Click Register for free for access
  • The free account searches publications and datasets.

Elicit
  • Best for generating a summary from multiple articles
  • Source of citations is Semantic Scholar
  • Limited free access: paid plan required after a period of use
  • Sign in required

EvidenceHunt
  • Best for generating a summary from recent articles
  • Sources of citations - Pubmed and NICE (National Institute for Health Care and Excellence UK)
  • Subscribe to a weekly e-alert. EvidenceHunt will run your search for you on a weekly basis so you get the most up to date clinical information
  • Sign in required

Keenious
  • an academic search engine that recommends research papers by analysing your document 
  • Source of citations - Open Alex 
  • upload an abstract of a useful article and Keenious will find supporting academic documents
  • free version gives you one page of results for each search
  • watch this video to add Keenious Add-In to Word (Add-Ins / Get Add ins)

Lens.org

  • Source of citations - Microsoft Academic, CrossRef, PubMed, OpenAlex
  • Best for finding additional articles, including grey literature
  • No sign in required

Litmaps

  • Source of citations - Crossref, Semantic Scholar, OpenAlex
  • Best for finding additional articles
  • Sign in required
Open Alex
  • Source of citations - Microsoft Academic, Crossref, ORCID, DOAJ, Unpaywall, Pubmed, web crawls, and more.
  • Best for finding highly cited articles.
  • If no full text then copy and paste the article title into Library Search to find it in an Ara database.
  • No sign in required

Open Knowledge Maps

  • The visual maps provide an instant overview of a topic by showing the main areas at a glance, and documents related to each area.
  • Clusters similar documents together.
  • Labels research areas with relevant concepts.
  • Highlights open access content
  • If no full text then copy and paste the article title into Library Search to find it in an Ara database.
  • No sign in required

Semantic Scholar

  • Best for generating a summary from individual articles and getting alerts for new articles
  • Sources of citations - Pubmed, BioRxiv, MedRxiv, and directly from major publishers.
  • If no full text then copy and paste the article title into Library Search to find it in an Ara database.
  • No sign in required

 

AI Tool Quick Guide

Find more about AI literacy using Wintec's AI Literacy Toolbox

AI Tool Quick Guide

Image adapted with permission from Wintec Academic Integrity: Using AI in Assignments webpage. Download a printable copy of the above AI Tool Quick guide here.

Need more advice?

If you need more advice about using AI in your assignments

[Disclaimer: AI technology is rapidly evolving so this information may change in near future to reflect new developments.]

Guidelines on this page are adapted from Wintec Academic Integrity: Using AI in Assignments webpage. Thank you to Merren Tait, AI Librarian, Wintec, for this permission. 

AI Tools - How-to Videos

ChatPDF

Andy Park. (2023, May 17). ChatPDF: Use this document to chat with any PDF documents [You Tube, 5 mins].

Consensus

Elicit

BU Cares (2023, Jan 28). How to use AI for Research: Using Elicit.org for writing a literature review. [You Tube, 15 mins].

EvidenceHunt and 4 more AI tools

MedMastery (2024, Jun 24). Top AI tools for efficient literature search. [You tube, 4 mins]

Litmaps

Litmaps (2024). How to search for articles with Litmaps. [You Tube., 3 mins]

Open Knowledge Maps

The Gray Man (2021, March 11). How to use Open Knowledge Maps. [You Tube, 20 mins]